Combined coin sorter and counting machine



y 1, 1963 D. w. JONES 3,090,390

COMBINED COIN SORTER AND COUNTING MACHINE Filed April 6, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 21, 1963 D. w. JONES COMBINED com SORTER AND coummc MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 6, 1960 May 21, 1963 D. w. JONES 3,090,390

COMBINED com SORTER AND coun'rms MACHINE Filed April 6, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 y 21, 1963 D. w. JONES 3,090,390

COMBINED COIN SORTER AND COUNTING MACHINE Filed April 6, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 3,090,390 Patented May 21, 196 3 3,090,390 COMBINED COIN SORTER AND COUNTING MACHINE Donald W. Jones, Riverside, Conn., assignor to Abbott Coin Counter Co. Inc., Greenwich, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 6, 1960, Ser. No. 20,496 9 Claims. (Cl. 133-8) The invention is concerned with coin handling machines adapted to sort coins and count separately the respective denominations and then deliver them into separate receiving compartments. The machine is in general of a known rotary turret type having gage plates mounted therein into which individual coins are delivered, and in the rotation of the turret each coin engages a coin sensing element corresponding to the denomination of the coin and its position in the gage plate, and upon further angular advance of the turret the coin is engaged by an extracting finger and delivered into a chute for the particular denomination.

The invention concerns in particular certain features and relations of the parts which provide new and advantageous manufacturing, operating and servicing characteristics and functions. An outstanding feature in this respect is an arrangement whereby the coin sensing and counter operating mechanisms are all embodied in a complete self-contained unit whereby the unit may be fully preassembled and quickly and easily applied to the machine frame and removed and replaced by another similar unit when desired. The unit embodies the critical operating mechanism and the parts most liable to be injured by bent coins or other operational hazards and the owner can by substituting a new unit quickly restore the machine to operating condition.

The unit embodies further new and advantageous features comprising a push-pull flexible cable arrangement for operating the counters from the sensing elements, and the cables are plastic coated and slide in their supporting tubes with exceptional ease and are long lasting. Associated with each cable and its operating coin sensing finger is an over-travel mechanism including an intervening spring means whereby operation of the counter is assured without the need for exact adjustment of the length of the operating connection to the counter and the spring means also permits the coin sensing element to move without severe damage to the parts in case the cable or counter mechanism meets obstruction.

Another feature comprises a common means for moving simultaneously all of' the coin sensing elements to inoperative positions free of the turret and coins therein whereby the machine can be reversed or operated as desired without affecting the coin counter mechanism.

Still another feature of advantage resides in a simple and convenient arrangement for resetting simultaneously all of the counters of a complete bank from a single manually operable element.

Various other advantages and objects will be made apparent by the description to follow and the invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exterior view of a combined coin sorter and counter in which the mechanism of the present invention is embodied;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the interior operating mechanism with the casing removed and with some of the parts shown in phantom;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the turret mechanism taken on the vertical plane 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation of the self-contained coin sensing and counter unit;

FIG. 5 is a generally top plan view looking in the direction of the arrows 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5a is a partial view looking from the right in FIG. 5 showing a switch actuated from the shaft of the cam for rendering the coin sensing elements inoperative.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the plane 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a view in perspective of one of the coin gage plates.

The invention is embodied in a combined coin sorter and counting machine of a well known type and only such details thereof as are necessary to an understanding of the features of the present invention will be referred to. In general the machine is mounted in a suitable casing 10 various sections of which may be made readily removable. The operating parts include a rotary turret 11 (FIG. 3) which has the general shape of a truncated cone. Secured to the top of the turret is a rotary disk 12 including a plate 13 with a scalloped peripheral edge. The turret and the plates 12 and 13 rotate as a unit being driven through the transmission 14 which derives motion from a suitable drive motor 15 having a belt drive 16 to pulley 17 associated with the transmission 14.

As indicated in FIG. 3 the turret is rotatable on an axis inclined to both the vertical and horizontal. The scalloped disk 13 constitutes the bottom of a hopper the walls of which are defined by a stationary shell 20. Secured to the periphery of the turret 11 are a plurality of gage plates 21 an individual gage plate being shown in perspective in FIG. 7. The gage plates are all alike and each has a vertical channel including shoulders at one side successively stepped inwardly to decrease correspondingly the width and provide shoulder stops for coins of dilferent denomination. For example shoulder 22 is adapted to arrest quarters as indicated in FIG. 7. Such gage means are well known in coin sorters of the current type but the present arrangement is of especial advantage in that each gage plate is a self-contained separately made element, a plurality of such elements being secured to the periphery of the turret by suitable means such as the countersunk set screws 23 shown in FIG. 3. In the operation of the machine coins are carried in the scallops of plate 13 up to the top of the hopper (see FIG. 3) where they fall through an opening 24 in the plate 12 into a passage 25 within the fixed casing 26 and drop into the corresponding gage plate 21. It will be understood that there is a gage plate 21 corresponding to and in registration with each of the scallops in the disk 12.

Each of the gage plates 21 has a series of horizontal slots 30 intersecting the vertical coin passage, the slots 30 being arranged to receive coin sensing fingers and thereafter in the continued rotation of the turret coin ejecting fingers.

The turret rotates in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 and each coin is carried around in a gage plate to the coin sensing mechanism and then to the coin dislodging element and it then gravitates downwardly through a suitably arranged passage to a coin receiving drawer such as those indicated at 31 in FIG. 1. There is of course a coin passage and receiving drawer for each denomination. The general arrangement and operation thus far described are well known and the various details such as the means for removing the coins from the gage 3 plates and the coin chutes leading to the coin drawers need not be further described. As noted above, however, the gage plates in the present machine are formed as separate individual units and assembled on the turret and the plates are uniform and accurate as to dimensions.

As indicated the machine is adapted to sort and count coins of the denomination of 50, 25, 5, 1d and the counters being arranged in the order of denomination of the coins and not the position which the coins occupy in the gage plates 21. It will be understood, however, that the principles of the invention are adapted to the sorting and counting of different combinations or assortments of coins or tokens by suitable shaping of the gage plates and other parts. In this connection it is intended that the term coins as used throughout the description and in the claims shall include and mean tokens or other articles each representative in general of an arbitrarily assigned value.

The machine includes coin counting units for the respective denominations two banks 40 and 41 of which are shown particularly in FIG. 2, the respective counter displaying the registered values at the series of windows 43 and 44 (FIG. 1) of the main casing. One of the banks such as the left bank 41 is adapted to be accumulative and the other bank to register individual runs and be resettable after each run as by the hand knob 45 as will be described more fully hereinafter.

The description will now be directed particularly to the combined coin sensing and counter unit comprising a complete separate sub-assembly as indicated in FIG. 4. All of the operating mechanism is mounted on a common bracket support means which may be one single element but for manufacturing convenience in the present case includes two main bracket means 50 and 51 secured together at a common face 52 by suitable bolt or screw means. The bracket 50 includes two spaced flat bar elements 53 and 54 appearing particularly in FIG. 4 and the bar 53 also appearing in FIG. 6. The bracket, and particularly bars 53 and 54, are provided with four holes 55 each adapted to receive a countersunk screw 56 threaded into a portion of the main frame 57 (FIG. 6) for securing the unit in place. The bars 53 and 54 are provided with two cross lands or flanges 58 and 59 respectively for supporting the lower ends of flexible cable connections leading from the sensing fingers to the counter units and associated spring means as will be described shortly.

The upper bracket part 51 includes a plate portion 65 having two lands or flanges 66 and 67 in which are supported the opposite ends of the flexible cable connections 68a to 68e the cable connections each having an outer casing or tube part 69a to 69a the lower ends of which in each case are secured in the land or flange 59 and the upper ends in the land of flange 66 in any suitable manner. Slidably mounted in the tubes 69a to 69e are the respective flexible cables 68a to 68s. The core of the cables may be of a well known type such as woven metal, a common form being known as Bowden cables. In the present case, however, the cables are coated with a plastic material which renders them unusually practical and eflicient for the purpose. Different known plastic materials may be employed but in the present case to coating is nylon. The cables per se are about .006 inch in diameter and have a coating of nylon of about .012 inch. The cables thus constituted slide freely and are long-wearing and have proven remarkably successful for the purpose.

Each of the flexible cables has associated therewith a coin sensing finger adapted to ride in one of the slots of the successive gage plates 21 in their rotation. One of the sensing fingers 75 is best shown in FIG. 6, the complete series thereof being shown edgewise in FIG. 5. The fingers are pivoted on a common round rod 76 supported at its opposite ends in the bars 53 and 54 respectively. The inner end 75a of each finger is adapted to extend into one of the slots 30 of the gage plate 21, as heretofore stated, and the opposite end b is operatively associated with one of the flexible cables. For this purpose each cable is provided with a slidable plunger 80 secured to the lower end of the cable as particularly shown in FIG. 6 for the cable 68a, the plunger 80 being slidably mounted in the projecting flange 58 and the finger 75b extending through a slot 81 in the plunger. Mounted between the finger end 751) and a washer or disk 82 secured at the joint between the cable and the plunger 80 is a spring 03. The movement of the lever end 75b in the slot 81 in the opposite direction is preferably limited by a cross pin 84. The arrangement provides an over-travel means, that is upon rocking of the lever 75 in a counter clockwise direction in FIG. 6, if the cable 68a should encounter some unsual obstruction or the countermechanism should become jammed further rocking of the lever 75 merely compresses the spring 83. In normal operation very little compresion of the spring 83 occurs. However, the arrangement eliminates the need for fine adjustment of the parts, the operation of the counter being assured by adjusting the push-pull connection to have a small overtravel at the end of each operating stroke.

To effect return movement of the plungers 80 and the corresponding cables each is provided with a spring positioned between the flange 58 and a washer 91 secured to the end of the plunger by means of a screw 92 threaded into the end of the plunger.

The operating connections at the opposite ends of the flexible cables are shown particularly in FIGS. 4 and 5. Secured to the upper end of each cable is a plunger 95 having a slidable support in the flange 67, the extreme end of the plunger having a suitable operating connection for effecting the operation of the counter units. As disclosed in FIG. 5 the plunger 95 may be provided with a notched end in which is engaged an arm 96 attached to the shaft of the respective counter in the bank 40 and the plunger also has a cross pin 97 adapted similarly to engage and operate an arm 98 attached to the rotary shaft of the corresponding counter unit of the bank 41. The counter units may be of a standard commercial form and the connection to the flexible push-pull cable of a suitable character for the purpose and further details in this respect are unnecessary for the purposes of the present invention.

A common counter resetting means is provided at least for the right hand bank of counters 40 embodying a single manually operable lever 100 on which is mounted the knob 45 heretofore referred to, the lever being piv oted at 101 to a bracket arm 102 secured to a plate 103 upon which are mounted the counter units, the plate 103 being secured to the bracket 51 by any suitable means. Each counter 40 has projecting therefrom a resetting shaft on which is mounted a sprocket 105. Engaged with the sprockets is a rack means in the form of a rigid slide bar or a flexible chain engaging around all of the sprockets; The form shown comprises a rigid rack bar 106 having teeth 106a engaging the teeth on each of the sprockets 105. The bar is guided in a slot in each of two bracket members 107 and 108 secured on the surface of plate 103. A set screw 110 extends through a slot 111 in lever 100 and is threadably engaged into the rack bar 106. A counter resetting operation comprises swinging the lever 100 upwardly t0 the broken line position shown in FIG. 4 and then back to the full line position shown. Preferably the arrangement includes means to operate a switch controlling the electric circuit to the main drive motor. Such a means in the present mechanism comprises a cam member 112 on the end of rack bar 106 which operates a plunger 113 of switch 114 connected through line 115 to a relay switch in the motor circuit. The plunger 112 is jointed and carries an outer end hinged at 116 with a spring 117 normally urging the end to the position shown, with the roller 118 on the outer end occupying a position in the notch 1061) of rack bar 106. The contacts of switch 114 are normally open and upward movement of bar 106 merely rocks the hinged end of plunger 113 clockwise. Upon return movement of bar 106 the cam 112 depresses plunger 113 momentarily closing switch 114 which closes the relay switch energizing the circuit to the drive motor.

There will now be described the common means for lifting the right hand ends of the coin sensing levers 75 and reference is made particularly to FIGS. and 6 in this respect. Rotatably mounted in the side bars 53 and S4 of the bracket 50 is a cross shaft 120 which carries a wing cam plate 121 located beneath the sensing fingers 75. The end toward the front of the machine carries a bevel gear 122 meshing with a bevel gear 123 secured on a shaft 124 carried by a plate 125 secured to the main bracket 50 by any suitable means. The outer end of shaft 124 carries a manually operable knob 126 and rotation thereof in the appropriate direction serves to swing the cam plate 121 upwardly as indicated in broken line in FIG. 6 rocking fingers 75 in a counter clockwise direction whereby the inner ends 750 are retracted and held free of the slots 30 in the gaging plates 21. In this position accordingly the turret 11 may be freely rotated without engagement of the levers 75 by coins or other parts of the turret. In general FIG. 6 shows in full lines the normal position of the corresponding lever 75 as effected by the spring 90. The position 75' indicates approximately the position of the end 75a when engaged and rocked by a coin and the position 75" indicates approximately the position when the sensing levers are moved to an inoperative position by the wing cam 121. Preferably the end of the shaft 120 opposite gear 122 has means associated therewith adapted to operate a switch 128 connected into the main circuit through line 129 (FIG. 2) to break the power connections to the main drive motor 15 when the sensing levers are moved to their inoperative position whereby power rotation of the turret is prevented and the machine may be manually operated if desired to remove bent coins or make any other needed adjustment. The switch operating means in the present machine comprises a radial finger 130 (FIGS. 5a) adapted to engage and ride along flexible blade 131 depressing plunger 132 breaking the circuit to the drive motor.

It may be noted that the use of the push-pull cables enables the counters to be arranged in the order of coin values from the largest denomination at the top downwardly as indicated at 135 in FIG. 1, although the coins occupy positions in the gaging plate 21 in accordance with their diameter and not in accordance with their denomination. For example, as indicated in FIG. 4 the cable 68e is operated from the lowermost slot position in the gage plate indicated by a dime 141 in FIG. 7 but the operating cable leads to the middle one of the counter units opposite the legend in FIG. 1.

The operating mechanism for sensing the coins and registering on the counters the details of which have been described above are all mounted, it will be noted, in the unit shown essentially in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. Accordingly to remove and replace this unit, except for separating any electrical connections, comprises merely the manipulation of four set screws 56 as has been heretofore described. This feature is exceptionally advantageous particularly to the user in that new units embodying the normally critical operating parts may be substituted in the machine in a very short time and long delays with the machine out of operation are avoided.

It should be understood that various changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, and it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown :in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a coin handling machine having a main frame and coin moving means mounted therein, a self-contained counting unit embodying a supporting bracket means, a

plurality of coin sensing elements pivotally mounted thereon, a series of counters mounted on said bracket means, a flexible push-pull cable operating connection from each of said coin sensing elements to a respective one of said counters, and means for removably securing said unit intact as a self-contained mechanism to said main frame with said sensing elements in operative position to respond selectively to coins of difierent denomination in their movement through the machine.

2. In a coin sorting and counting machine of the rotary turret type having a main frame in which said turret is mounted, said turret having radially positioned coin gaging slots and annular grooves passing through the slots adapted to receive coin sensing elements, a self-contained counting unit embodying a supporting bracket means, a plurality of coin sensing elements pivotally mounted thereon each having a part adapted to extend into a different one of said grooves, a series of counters mounted on said bracket means, a flexible push-pull cable connection from each of said coin sensing elements to one of said counters, and means for removably securing said unit intact as a self-contained mechanism to said main frame with said sensing elements in operative position for selective engagement by individual coins in said gaging slots in the rotation of the turret.

3. In a coin counting machine, a rotary turret with successive gaging plates in which coins occupy dilferent positions in accordance with their size, a plurality of coin sensing elements including one for each size coin, a support in which said elements are movably mounted in the order of the respective coin sizes, a plurality of coin counters, and a flexible push-pull operating cable connection from each one of said elements to a different one of said counters, said counters being mounted in a row in the order of the respective coin denominations difierent from the order of size of the coins.

4. In a coin counting machine, a pivotally mounted coin sensing lever adapted to be rocked by the presence of a coin, a counter, and an operating connection from said lever to said counter comprising a supporting bracket, a plunger slidably mounted therein, a return spring connected to the outer end of said plunger to urge it to a retracted position, a flexible push-pull cable connecting the inner end of said plunger to said counter, said plunger having an axial slot therein into which one end of said lever extends, and a compression spring mounted between said one end of the lever and an abutment movable with the inner end of said plunger whereby movement of said lever in the coin actuated direction is transmitted through said compression spring to the counter and over-travel beyond the normal counter operation range is permitted.

5. In a coin counting machine, a rotary turret with coin gaging slots, a plurality of pivotally mounted levers each for sensing coins of a different denomination, spring means for rotatably biasing an end of the respective levers into the path of coins of the respective denominations, and a common manually operable means for simultaneously rocking all of said levers into an inoperative position out of the paths of the coins and releasably hold the levers in said position.

6. In a coin counting machine, a rotary turret with coin gaging slots, a series of pivotally supported levers mounted for rocking about their respective pivots in substantially parallel adjacent planes, each lever being adapted for sensing coins of a particular denomination different from the others located at correspondingly different positions in said slots, spring means for rotatably biasing an end of the respective levers into the path of coins of the respective denominations, and a manually operable cam means common to all of said levers positioned to rock simultaneously all of said levers into an inoperative position out of the paths of the corresponding coins and releasably hold the levers in said position.

7. In a coin counting machine, a rotary turret with coin gaging slots, a series of pivotally supported levers mounted for rocking about their pivots in substantially parallel adjacent planes, each lever having an end adapted to extend into the path of coins in said slots of a particular denomination different from the others located at correspondingly different positions in said slots, spring means for rotatably biasing an end of each of he levers into the path of coins of the respective denominations, and a manually operable rotary cam means common to all of said levers positioned to engage and rock simultaneously all of said levers into an inoperative position out of the paths of the corresponding coins and releasably hold the levers in said position.

8. In a coin handling machine, a main frame and coin moving means mounted therein, a self-contained counting unit embodying a supporting bracket means, a plurality of coin sensing elements pivotally mounted thereon, a series of counters mounted on said bracket means, an operating connection from each of said coin sensing elements to a respective one of said counters comprising a flexible push-pull cable and a compressible spring arranged in series between the sensing element and the corresponding counter, said spring permitting longitudinal over-travel in the connection by excess compression of the spring, and means for removably securing said unit intact as a self-contained mechanism to said main frame with said sensing elements in operative position to respond selectively to coins of different denomination in their movement through the machine.

9. In a machine for handling and counting coins of five different denominations, a main frame and coin moving means mounted therein, a self-contained counting unit embodying a supporting bracket means, a coin sensing element for each of said denominations pivotally mounted thereon, an independent counter unit for each denomination mounted on said bracket means, a flexible push-pull cable operating connection from each of said coin sensing elements to an appropriate one of said counters, and means for removably securing said unit intact as a self-contained mechanism to said main frame With said sensing elements in operative position to respond selectively to coins of different denomination in their movement through the machine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,639,174 Von Soden-Fraunhoflen Aug. 16, 1927 1,805,132 Donnellan May 12, 1931 1,877,989 Schwartz Sept. 20, 1932 1,947,456 Bock Feb. 20, 1934 2,071,785 Ehrlich Feb. 23, 1937 2,453,398 Auerbach Nov. 9, 1948 2,642,882 Buchholtz June 23, 1953 2,821,092 Cordora et al. Jan. 28, 1958 2,847,872 Todd Aug. 19, 1958 2,850,915 Bratz Sept. 9, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,237,474 France June 20, 1960 

1. IN A COIN HANDLING MACHINE HAVING A MAIN FRAME AND COIN MOVING MEANS MOUNTED THEREIN, A SELF-CONTAINED COUNTING UNIT EMBODYING A SUPPORTING BRACKET MEANS, A PLURALITY OF COIN SENSING ELEMENTS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED THEREON, A SERIES OF COUNTERS MOUNTED ON SAID BRACKET MEANS, A FLEXIBLE PUSH-PULL CABLE OPERATING CONNECTION FROM EACH OF SAID COIN SENSING ELEMENTS TO A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID COUNTERS, AND MEANS FOR REMOVABLY SECURING SAID UNIT INTACT AS A SELF-CONTAINED MECHANISM TO SAID MAIN FRAME WITH SAID SENSING ELEMENTS IN OPERATIVE POSI- 